P h o t o g r a p h y

Croatia - Cultural & Historical

Croatia (Hrvatska) - this Eastern Europe country of > 4 million people is located on the northwestern Balkan Peninsula, along the Adriatic Sea, in the northern Mediterranean. This land has been passed between competing kingdoms, empires and republics for > 2 millennium - leaving behind Roman, Byzantine, Frankish, Venetian, and Ottoman cultural arenas, temples, cathedrals, fortresses, and statues from the Classical Antiquity, Medieval, and Renaissance periods of time.

Croatia covers about 21,850 sq. mi. (56,600 sq. km) of land area - comprised of lowland Pannonia Basin, mountainous Dinaric Alps, and coastal Adriatic. There is around 1,100 mi. (1,770 km) of mainland coastal shoreline, with about 2,520 mi. (4,055 km) of island/islet coastline, comprised of > 700 islands and islets. Climate in the north is continental, Mediterranean along the coast, and highland climate in the central region.

These images from the summer season throughout the Istria, Central, and Dalmatia regions of the country which entail UNESCO sites (Episcopal Complex of Euphrasian Basilica, in Porec - St. James Cathedral in Sibenik - Historic City of Trogir - Historical Complex of Split - and the Old City of Dubrovnic) - ancient Roman ruins - Byzantine architecture church - fortresses built during and after the Medieval or Middle Ages - Romanesque churches - and monuments.

Croatia - this country was under Byzantine (Eastern Roman Empire) rule until the first Slavic tribes arrived around the 6th-7th centuries, during great tribal migrations. Among them were the Croats, which were ethnically the most concentrated and historically the strongest in the hinterland (backcountry) of the Adriatic coastline. In 925 the Croatia Kingdom is established - in 1102 Croatia enters into a union with Hungary - 1400s the Ottoman Empire (Turkish) begin to infiltrate the area. The land of Croatia today was part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire monarchy until the end of World War I, when In 1918 the Croats, Serbs, and Slovenes formed a kingdom known after 1929 as Yugoslavia. Following World War II, Yugoslavia became an independent communist state. Croatia declared its independence from Yugoslavia in 1991 - with the The Yugoslav Wars (1991-2001), ended the existance of Yugoslovia.

This image - Temple of Augustus (Augustov Hram - Croatian) - with its portico supported by 6 columns with ornate Corinthian capitals (leaves and flowers, sculpted atop the unfluted columns). Corinthian is 1 of 5 "Classical Architecture" (500 BC - 500 AD) styles - with 3 Greek orders (Ionic, Doric, & Corinthian) and 2 Roman (Tuscan & Composite). Here in Pula - a coastal/port city along the Adriatic Sea, located at the southern end of the Istria Peninsula and region, of NW Croatia.